Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part VII

NHC - NOAA ^ | 23 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Hurricane Rita landfall is anticipated within the next few hours. Strong winds and heavy rains are battering southern Louisiana and southeastern Texas.

MSM news crews are shouting over the howling winds as they foolishly describe blowing rain, swaying trees, and crashing waves through rain splattered camera lenses. It's a hurricane. We know these things already.

An 18 wheeler rig reportedly overturned on an I-10 bridge. The fate of the truck driver is unknown at this time. Reports of widespread power outages in Lake Charles. KPLC-TV Lake Charles local news has remarkably improvised their reporting from a remote location. They are taking calls from residents, NWS, and public utility representatives, and alerting residents to local conditions.

On the flip side, CNN announced to the world that law enforcement officers had evacuated from Port Arthur TX with the rest of the population. Engraved looter invitations would have been more elegant.

Godspeed to all those in the path of this storm.

The following links are self-updating:

Public Advisory Currently published every 3 hours 5A, 8A, 11A, 2P, etc. ET
NHC Discussion Published every six hours 6A, 11A, 6P, 11P
Three Day Forecast Track
Five Day Forecast Track

Rita Forecast Track Archive
Forecast Models
Buoy Data Western Gulf of Mexico
Houston/Galveston/Beaumont/Lake Charles Wx Watches/Warnings
Jefferson Co TX NWS Weather
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Texas
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Louisiana
Hi Res Houston Flood Zone Map Slow load, great detail

Images:

Lake Charles Long Range Radar Still image, with loop link
Houston/Galveston Long Range Radar Still image, with loop link
Lake Charles Experimental Radar Outages and Delays May Occur

Storm Floater IR Loop
GOM WV Loop
GOM IR Still Image
Visible Storm Floater Still (only visible during daylight hours)
Color Enhanced Atlantic Loop

Streaming Video: (coverage may be intermittent)

KHOU-TV/DT Houston
KPRC-TV/DT Houston
KTRK-TV/DT Houston
KTRH-AM Houston
KPLC-TV/DT Lake Charles/Lafayette
KSLA-TV/DT Shreveport

Additional Resources:

FReeper Sign In Thread Check in to let us know whether you are staying, going, and when you get there
FReepers Offering Lodging To Rita Evacuees People and/or Pet Friendly FReepers Offering Shelter
KHOU Houston
KTRK ABC News Houston
KPLC Lake Charles Evac Routes, news
KFDM Beaumont/Port Arthur News, evac info
Hurricane City
Wxnation Houston
Galveston Webcams
Golden Triangle Weather Page Provides Galveston Weather, Warnings, Radar, etc.

Category	Wind Speed	Barometric Pressure	Storm Surge	Damage Potential
Tropical Depression	< 39 mph < 34 kts			Minimal
Tropical Storm	39 - 73 mph 34 - 63 kts			Minimal
Hurricane 1 (Weak)	74 - 95 mph 64 - 82 kts	28.94" or more 980.02 mb or more	4.0' - 5.0' 1.2 m - 1.5 m	Minimal damage to vegetation
Hurricane 2 (Moderate)	96 - 110 mph 83 - 95 kts	28.50" - 28.93" 965.12 mb - 979.68 mb	6.0' - 8.0' 1.8 m - 2.4 m	Moderate damage to houses
Hurricane 3 (Strong)	111 - 130 mph 96 - 112 kts	27.91" - 28.49" 945.14 mb - 964.78 mb	9.0' - 12.0' 2.7 m - 3.7 m	Extensive damage to small buildings
Hurricane 4 (Very strong)	131 - 155 mph 113 - 135 kts	27.17" - 27.90" 920.08 mb - 944.80 mb	13.0' - 18.0' 3.9 m - 5.5 m	Extreme structural damage
Hurricane 5 (Devastating)	Greater than 155 mph Greater than 135 kts	Less than 27.17" Less than 920.08 mb	Greater than 18.0' Greater than 5.5m	Catastrophic building failures possible

Previous Threads:
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part VI
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part V
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part IV
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part III
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part II
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part I
Tropical Storm Rita
Tropical Depression 18

[dixie sass]

Lol. That would be quite a sight! Po' Shep - bless his li'le ol' heart!

[LikeLight]

Way too early to celebrate - the worst areas always take about 24 hours to report in - or longer - every serious hurricance seems to feature the "premature celebration" phase . . .

[Rebelbase]

This storm has been a good diagnostic for revealing the true character of people's hearts here at FR.

We have racists, selfish folk, and folks who are so caught up in politics that they have lost touch with reality and the ability to think beyond what they see on the media. It's a drunkards bar in a sort of way, you can come here and associate with like minds--and we are all not of the same mind.

Case in point has to do with those people like you are are in Louisiana/Mississippi or Alabama and are living, breathing and experiencing this tragedy, a historic national event. Families are disrupted, property destroyed, careers lost, dreams shattered, deaths, injuries, pollution and sheer havoc on a regional scale, beyond anything that has ever happened in the country's history.

What you are and others are experiencing is the story. The welfare exposure, and the misuse of FEMA cards(A fraction of a percentage of abuse) is all some folks can talk about, because it feeds their political ego and validates their "better than that" attitude and then they have the audacity to tell you "how it really is" when you are the one living it! They are armchair keyboard warriors--THE HYPOCRITES! What shallow minded people whom are FReepers to boot. It's an embarrassment to be publicly associated with such loons.

And I'm not even going to get into the racist bigots that have already driven good people away from this forum.

[Miss Marple]

OK, let's think about this. cajungirl, you now know the full effect of the media's lying about things. They lie about the President for their own purposes, so we should not be surprised about them lying about the population of New Orleans.

Rummy Chick, the same thing goes for you. Yes, I have seen those stories about the Louis Vitton handbag, and the ungrateful people. Why do you think that we didn't see anything about all the grateful people? After the first couple of days, even Fox quit covering them and concentrated on the whiners.

It is my personal opinion that the majority of the press and the democrats are interested in fomenting division and they are doing this by stirring up racial troubles. They portray the New Orleans people as either looters or ingrates, which makes them unsympathetic to a good portion of the rest of the country. Then Jesse Jackson and his group show up and start aggravating the situation and make the black people think they are going to be treated poorly.

We got 4000 people in Indiana and quite a few of them were afraid. They were afraid that they were going to be sent to some hell-hole, afraid they would not be allowed to go where they wanted, afraid they would never see their friends and relatives again. Now why should they be afraid?

The damn press has created this division in the country, and the democrats are very adept at using it.

I don't begrudge one thing to the people of Louisiana, but I sure do NOT want to see Blanco, Nagin, or Landrieu anywhere near the reconstruction money. I want them all arrested.

And people wouldn't be so mad if Landrieu didn't show up on Thursday with Vitter and submit a ridiculous bill for aid to Congress, COMPLETELY ignoring Mississippi and Alabama, as well as what was a potential disaster in Texas. Then Blanco comes on TV and starts whining again.

I really feel for the normal folks in Louisiana, but your politicians are the worst I have ever seen. And they are making everyone angry, including me!

[patriciaruth]

Hallelujah, Amen!

[cajungirl]

I wasn't saying a poor person deserved to have a LV bag. What I replied to was that lady complaining of not having a hot meal. My take on it after judging her as an ungrateful slime, was that what she really needed was comfort and wanting a Hot Meal is big time comfort. Sort of like when you are miserable and sick and all you want is a hot bath.

But nobody defends looting, crime, LV bags {which are sooo out anyway}.

[dixie sass]

True.

[cajungirl]

Me too. But what struck me is how many people really can't,,the old, the sick.

[AFPhys]

This radar now shows a band of very heavy rain in the Lafayette, LA area, probably heading up to Natchez.
http://radar.weather.gov/radar/latest/DS.78ohp/si.klch.shtml

Look soon if you're interested: this is a "latest" link and will be constantly updating...

[Rebelbase]

I'm sorry, but i knew a rummy chick who was a drunk, so I think that is what should be discussed, not the million others who are decent people. I think she was a ho, also.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

All I can say is when you get this many people together, you get all types. But boy, there are a lot of good people here, too, which is why I hang out here so much.

[GopherIt]

Thought some of you might like to see pix of the Port Arthur 1915 flood, by Granny Gopherit. Them were the days. PortArthur1915a PortArthur1915b PortArthur1915c

[GodBlessUSA]

Thanks. :)

Prayers that Rita takes the ride North East.

[blam]

"I10 overpass somwhere in LA collapsed..unconfirmed. "

Just great. I-10 is still down to one west bound lane near Pascagoula.

[shield]

I love your insight. It's so right on. Thanks.

[golas1964]

Any early reports on how the refineries at Lake Charles and Port Arthur fared? Oil rigs?

[jeffers]

I have video of something I believe is the precursor to bead lightning. At the end of the stroke, as seen on a frame by frame advance, the lowest thrid of the channel balloons out to maybe 20 times the initial diameter, with a helical surface, a lot like a braided manila rope.

Never have seen ball lightning though, I hope I get to some time.

[MoefromMs]

So you think that everyone who is unhappy with Pres. Bush's response to Katrina are"cowards and opportunistic?"

Since when do you have the "market" on Pres. Bush? I voted for him too, you know, twice. And so did most of the people in South MS. and South AL. But I did not appreciate the "low fly-by" while on Air Force One DAYS after the hurricane hit. I also didn't like the comment that "FEMA was doing a great job" while also listening to reports of people starving and dehydrating days later in Gulfport.

And I don't want to hear about how it is up to the local first responders....I mean, have you seen the pictures of South MS? The local infrastructure was wiped off the map!

It has nothing to do with "sticking or not sticking" with the Pres. It has to do with facts. And because I am an American citizen, and because I am a taxpayer (yes I live in the south AND pay taxes, something some people have a hard time believing) and I am a registered voter who voted for George Bush, and I have just as much right to disagree with some of things he does just as much as you have the right to agree with him.

[STARWISE]

God bless you, girl ... you're doing the Lord's work. I've lost my earthly possessions . .. in Andrew .. I know what you're seeing, hearing, feeling and smelling .. and you're in the worst of it. It's so tough ..and you'll never forget it.

Please know how many appreciate your kindness and humanity. This is, after all, a political forum .. so those not suffering just aren't in the same place emotionally you are. I'll never forget how badly the people of NO were abused by their elected officials and the despicable beasts who took advantage of that disaster .. and you're going through this awful suffering because of it and doing the right thing. I hope you'll just click past the insensitive posts.

God bless you with continued strength and grace and with many blessings. Your unselfish compassion and generosity is awesome!. Doing the right thing is never wrong.

[cajungirl]

Okay, have it your way. a half a million people who live in the boundaries of NO are all, or mostly all, looters, scam artists, corrupt people. And entire city.

That hasn't been my experience with New Orleanians but you are obviously fixed on that so go right ahead.